Incommunities Limited (202400574)

Background

1. The resident said they have experienced ongoing issues with damp and mould since moving into their home. A damp survey carried out in February 2023 identified high humidity and condensation as the cause. However, the resident later reported that a contractor told them there was rising damp. Following this, the landlord arranged for another survey in March 2024, which identified penetrating damp.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
   1. Reports of damp and mould.
   2. Complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found that:
   1. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.
   2. There was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

4. It was reasonable for the landlord to rely on the professional opinion given to it in February 2023 as to the cause of damp and mould. However, there was an unexplained delay in arranging a survey following the resident’s reports of damp and mould in September 2023. The landlord’s compensation offer did not fully recognise this.
5. Overall, the landlord complied with the complaint handling timeframes set out in its own policy and the Code.

Putting things right

Where we find service failure, maladministration or severe maladministration we can make orders for the landlord to put things right. We have the discretion to make recommendations in all other cases within our jurisdiction.

Orders

Landlords must comply with our orders in the manner and timescales we specify. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of compliance with our orders by the due date set.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

What we found and why

The circumstances of this complaint are well known by the parties involved, so it is not necessary to detail everything that’s happened or comment on all the information we’ve reviewed. We’ve only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

6. The resident has said that the damp and mould issues go back several years and are ongoing. The scope of this investigation will cover matters up to the landlord’s final response, issued in March 2024. In that response, the landlord considered events back to February 2023. As our role is to consider matters that a landlord has had the opportunity to investigate in its complaint’s procedure, we have also looked at the same period.
7. The resident told us that the damp and mould within their home affected their son’s health. We are unable to draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, any impacts on health. Matters of personal injury or damage to health, their investigation and compensation, are not part of the complaints process and are better addressed through the courts or the landlord’s liability insurer as a personal injury claim. We have, however, considered whether the resident was caused distress and inconvenience because of any failings by the landlord.
8. The resident said damp and mould caused damage to belongings and furniture. It is not within the Ombudsman’s authority or expertise to determine causation, liability, or negligence for damage to possessions as this is best addressed through an insurance claim. However, we have considered whether the landlord followed the correct process when considering their request for compensation.
9. The landlord acted fairly by acknowledging the resident’s compensation request for damaged furniture. The housing officer contacted them about making a public liability claim and explained that the claim would need to be considered by its insurance team. The landlord also explained what information the resident would need to provide to make a claim for damage to health. This action was appropriate in the circumstances.
10. On 12 January 2024, a damp survey was carried out. When a contractor attended on 30 January to carry out works recommended by the survey, the resident said the contractor told them the damp and mould was caused by rising damp. We have not seen documentary evidence of what the resident was told by the contractor, but we have seen evidence that the contractor told the landlord that the survey completed in January was “wrong”.
11. As the contractor did not provide a clear explanation to the landlord as to why he thought the survey was wrong, it was reasonable for the landlord to instruct a further independent survey. This survey identified penetrating damp and recommended additional works that were not identified in the report carried out in January.
12. Previously, a survey was carried out in February 2023 which said the cause of the damp and mould was due to surface condensation from high humidity. It was reasonable for the landlord to rely on the professional opinion it received at that time. It is not known why penetrating damp was not identified then. However, the previous findings may still have been correct and condensation may still have been a contributing factor.
13. The landlord acted fairly by acknowledging the confusion the contractor’s advice caused and apologising. It also acted fairly by apologising for the delay in arranging a survey following the resident’s reports in September 2023. It sought to put things right by offering a total of £200 compensation, which has been paid to the resident.
14. When there are failings by a landlord, we will consider whether the redress offered put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this, the Ombudsman takes into account whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with our Dispute Resolution Principles; be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes. 
15. The landlord’s damp and mould policy says it will arrange for surveys to be carried out within 7 working days of the initial report. The report was made on 22 September 2023 and a survey was not arranged until the 12 January 2024, a delay of approximately 2 and a half months in working days. The landlord did not provide an explanation for this delay or explain what action it would take to avoid such delays in the future.
16. The compensation offer was not proportionate to the impact of the delay, especially given that the resident had told the landlord during the complaint process that their son had been unwell with bronchitis. The delay would have considerably increased the distress experienced by the resident and caused inconvenience as they said they could not decorate their property and the damp affected the living room, hallway and kitchen. For these reasons, the landlord must pay further compensation of £150, which is in line with our compensation guidance when there is a failure which has adversely affected the resident.

17. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) March 2022 which applied at the time of this complaint, required landlords to respond to stage 1 and 2 complaints within 10 and 20 working days, respectively.
18. The landlord responded at stage 1 within the expected timeframes. The landlord extended the stage 2 response by 10 working days. It provided a reasonable explanation for this decision to the resident. This was compliant with the Code and the landlord’s own complaints policy. Aside from this, there were no delays in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

Learning

19. The landlord did not identify any specific learnings arising from the delays it acknowledged. To give residents confidence that lessons have been learned, the landlord could clearly explain in complaint responses what actions it has taken, or will take, in response to identified issues. Setting out this learning would demonstrate a commitment to improving the service and preventing similar issues in future. 

Knowledge information management (record keeping) and communication

20. We did not note any specific concerns about the landlord’s record keeping during this investigation. 
21. We noted delays in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould. The landlord can gain further insight in the Ombudsman’s Spotlight report on damp and mould which highlights the need for landlords to respond promptly to reports of damp and mould.